The photographer is looking for thoughtful feedback on the image as a whole, especially around the areas noted below.
Feedback Focus: Artistic / Expressive
About This Image
We were in Chyulu Hills in southern Kenya when we came upon these two young cheetahs. They were watching their mom hunt. As they watched they were constantly scanning the horizon. It was amazing to see how camouflaged they were in the tall grass.
Feedback Requested
I would appreciate any thoughts on the overall composition, the framing and light. I am very thankful for any advice on how to make the image better.
Technical Details
Canon R5m2. Handheld
RF 100-500
ISO 500. 500mm. f8. /1250
It’s a great example of how our eyes work and are drawn to the part of the picture where the focus is sharpest and tones lightest
In such a uniform background it amazes me how well it works. The way the light falls and presumably some assistance with selective dodging and burning has created a brighter patch around the heads, and there don’t seem to be any other strong light areas pulling the eye elsewhere. My eye went straight to the cats - which I believe was your intention ( as opposed to wanting to emphasise their camouflage).
I would say it’s a perfect minimalist portrait.
Getting one cat looking at you and one in profile is perfection too
It’s a lovely shot Timothy, the one cub looking away and the other staring straight towards the camera. The overall colour pallet also works very well as they blend in to their environment .
I like the framing that keeps them off centre, but I wonder if there could be a bit more impact with a different aspect ratio.
I am a big fan of 16:9 for much of my wildlife shooting, to me it gives a great frame to show a subject and the landscape with a greater sense of breadth.
This is a quick screenshot, I think that it gives sense of how it could look.
Ryan, thank you very much for your thoughts! That is a great idea to try 16:9. I rarely venture out much with different ratios so I appreciate the advice to try out 16:9, etc.
Hi Timothy, love the perspective here with the young cheetahs placed in the upper left of the frame. Great view of their camouflage at work. Nice that one was looking in your direction and one was looking away. Well done.
It’s interesting @timothy3 - I’m usually a fan of 16:9 and more letterbox crops, but I think for this image I would make the case for your original crop. The lack of "headroom " in the 16:9 changes the feel of the image and the cheetahs are much more prominent in the frame - the whole image to me reads very differently. It becomes a very nice Cheetah portrait whereas with the original crop it emphasises their camouflage and the Savannah , their home.
Photography is a “communication” after all, and I’m aways aware of how the crop changes this communication. I have a landscape photographer friend who looks at the trees he photographs, and chooses the crop/format of the image in his head before he puts eye to viewfinder.
Huw, thanks. I appreciate your thoughts. I was trying multiple different crops including the 16:9 as recommended but was still leaning a bit towards the original. So interesting to see how the different crops change the story.
